It was a cheerful sight at noon to see the eagles wheel in the air, or the male eagle come from the glimmering hills and alight beside his mate.
One afternoon a sudden shadow like a falling cloud passed by the half-open shutter of the log school-house and caused the pupils to start.

There was a sharp cry of distress in the air, and the master looked out and said: "Attend to your books, children; it is only the eagle." But again and again the same swift shadow, like the fragment of a storm-cloud, passed across the light, and the wild scream of the bird caused the scholars to watch and to listen.

The cry was that of agony and affright, and it was so recognized by Benjamin, whose ear and eye were open to Nature, and who understood the voices and cries of the wild and winged inhabitants of the trees and air.
He raised his hand.
"May I go see ?" The master bowed silently.

The boy glided out of the door, and was heard to exclaim: "Look! look! the nest--the nest!" The master granted the school a recess, and all in a few moments were standing without the door peering into the tall trees.
The long dry weather and withering sun had caused the dead boughs to shrink and to break beneath the great weight of the nest that rested upon them.

The eagle's nest was in ruins.